February 5 Drumming

I lost my job two weeks ago. Please do me a HUGE favor by clicking here to take my short survey. It will help me make decisions about how to serve the Drum and our community now that my life has opened up some. Thanks so much!

Dear drummers,

Welcome, welcome, one and all to the Groovelicious Rhythmocity, the boom-boom-whakka-whakka-boom-whakka-whak of Drumming the Soul Awake, this Friday, February 5th. If your are new to drumming, don’t worry, our drumming group is about the easiest thing in the world to slip into, be comfortable and have a bucket 'o fun. We have plenty of drums, rattles and object of noise-a-liciousness, or bring your own.

I lost my job two weeks ago, and I’ve been ruminating on the haiku:
Since my house burned down
I now have a better view
Of the rising moon.

This Friday’s drum will focus on the topic of transformation. All of us are transforming, our world is transforming (all the time). The saying goes: every creature is crouched in eagerness to become the next thing. I’m not sure we are all so eager, but the key is to change the balance toward eagerness and away from fear.

We are in the part of the Celtic wheel of the year typically associated with Brigit, the goddess of healing, metal-working and poetry. She is a terrific Presence to ask for guidance in respect to transformation, and we will work with her this Friday. If you have a short poem about transformation (or about Brigit) that you’d like to share, please feel free to bring it.

So, two weeks ago the slashing axe of staff reduction came through our office, cutting down nearly half the staff, me included. I surprised myself at how little this bothered me. I have been ready to change the structure of my work life for some time, I just didn’t have a compelling reason (read: courage) to make that change. I shy away from blanket new-agey statements about bad things being blessings in disguise or our higher mind manifesting the change that we need. But in this particular case, it’s as true as the sparkle on the morning snow.

I began packing the very few personal items from my desk into a small box - a picture of my kids swimming; a calendula scented deodorant stick, and two figurines - a dashboard Jesus (Jesus on a spring so he dances as you drive over potholes) and a dashboard “Knight of Nee” (from the Monty Python movie). For three years they were next to me, Jesus looking like he was whispering a secret into the astonished Knight’s ear. I liked to pretend that Jesus, during his twelve “lost years” had made it to Scotland where one day he whispered the secret “Gospel of Nee” to my ancestor, which was passed down to me. Click here to see a picture of them!)

While packing, I surprisingly did not think about losing my house, and having to move to Surinam to work in the dank gold mines with the greasy, bare-chested Dutch foreman swishing his whip and shouting “Verk, u durty schkum, verk harder, schtoopit animals, get da gŏld, or no vater fer u!” All I thought about was how I have been handed to opportunity to collapse in fear or to ask what it is I want, or what it is I am called to do.

I’ve been given the opportunity to trust the Spirit(s), and myself. My “call” is expressed through our drumming groups. I have no explanation for why that is, but I’ve stopped worrying about it. My only thoughts as I packed away Jesus and the deodorant were, “Now that my life schedule is wide open, how will I expand my service to the Drum and to our community?” You can help me by offering any and all suggestions and ideas. Please feel free to email me (drummingthesoulawake@gmail.com) or please, click here to take my short survey.